Berdych edges out Odesnik
On the Wire
Fifth seed Tomas Berdych came through a tough clash with Wayne Odesnik to reach the second round of the SAP Open in San Jose.
The Czech Republic player cruised through the first set against his American opponent but then dropped the second before battling to a 6-1 6-7 (5/7) 7-5 victory.
In other first-round contests, Israel's Dudi Sela claimed a 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/4) victory over Colombia's Santiago Giraldo and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland beat wild card Lars Poerschke of Germany 3-6 6-3 6-2 to set up a clash with Berdych.
Leonardo Mayer of Argentina beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-5 6-4 and could face top seed and three-time champion Andy Roddick in round two.
Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin claimed a 6-2 7-5 victory over wild card Ryan Harrison and Taylor Dent beat qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr 6-4 7-6 (7/2) in an all-American clash.
An exhibition match featuring Pete Sampras saw the former world number one and 14-time major winner fall to a 6-3 7-6 (7/2) loss to world number 11 Fernando Verdasco.
